Iran plans to send monkey into space – Arab News

TEHRAN: Iran plans to send a live monkey into space next month, the latest advance in a missile and space program which has alarmed Israel and its western allies that fear the Islamic Republic is seeking nuclear weapons.

The official IRNA news agency on Monday quoted the head of Iran’s Space Agency as saying five monkeys were undergoing tests before one is selected for the flight on board a Kavoshgar-5 rocket.

UPDATE: Even though scoring lower in the tests than the other candidates, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad overruled his space program administration, and will be onboard the rocket when it launches. The Iranian Space Agency has made the statement that they believe they can go ahead with the launch as scheduled, but they will have to do an extensive training program to bring the new passenger up to the mental level of the monkeys.